06-15-1978 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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� . REG�jLAR P4EETING OF THE ORONO COUNCIL, Ji7PdE 15, 1978 Page 2 ' a Searles said that what brings this subject to the REPRESENTATIVE SEARLES forefront is the California referenduri passed (Continued) last week lir�iting real estate taxation to 1$ of the market value of a homestead. "While this, option is not available to the average Piinnesota taxpayer since there is no constitutional procedure for initiative and referendum, the fact is that there is a broad feeling of tax revolt in Minnesota and it stems fror.i the total tax take by the state and by all forms of government, " he said. Searles made the point that if state government followed through with its homestead credit principle established in the mid-sixties and revised in 1973, there would be more income and sales tax monies applied to real estate tax relief. But the fact is that the $325 homestead credit was applied in 1973 and hasn' t been changed since then, a period of the greatest inflation in costs, in home values, and in levels of taxation in the history of the state, " Searles noted. "The original intention of this homestead credit was to cover roughly 35$ of the homestead real estate tax, but at today' s levels this has dropped off sharply and it does not have the same tax relief feature that it was intended to have in the beginning. " Searles also noted that the Orono Council, and particularly Orono Councilperson Pdary Butler, could be of great assistance since she has been a director of the League of Diinnesota Cities for many years and could use her influence in having that body help in forwarding programs of moderate taxes in Minnesota and to make sure that local tax levels are not singled out unfairly as a prime traget of citizen discontent. Searles said that the record established by the 2�iajority in the Legislature in the last two years indicates a very small concern by the DFL for the average P4innesota homeowner and that the main thrust has been to keep taxes high and even raise them for most Minnesota voters �rhile singling I out the people who pay the least taxes for some form of tax relief_ "For example, the circuit - i breaker system which by itself has merit, doesn't do much for the average taxpayer, certainly in _� District 42B. " Searles made the point that a ' recent proposal to raise the sales tax in P�sinnesota , by 2 percentage points in .order to grant tax relief to homeowners is a typical DI'L solution to a broad taxation problem. The DFL will raise one tax and i shift it over to apply in another area. The real I , need in lZinnesota," Searles concluded, "is to lower tax levels, not to raise them and shift the money cleverly from one area to another. "